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Albany, N.Y., Schools To Test Students, Staff for COVID

The city’s school district will begin testing students and staff for the coronavirus when in-person instruction resumes on Monday, Jan. 11, testing 10 percent of its population on a random basis as a surge continues.

An empty classroom.
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TNS
(TNS) — The Albany, N.Y., school district will begin testing students and staff for the coronavirus when in-person instruction resumes on Monday, Jan. 11.

The district plans to test 10 percent of its population on a random basis as the surge in cases in the Capital Region continues.

In a statement on the district's website, officials described the testing as "non-invasive." Children, whose parents or guardians give permission to the school to test their children, will be pulled out of class for the test. With assistant from a nurse, dressed in protective equipment, the children will swab both of their nasal cavities without having to probe deeply. The process takes about a minute, a video on the district website shows.

The testing will take place a all buildings.

Consent forms can be completed online by logging in with student's Google credentials.

Albany City schools is not the only district to test students and staff for COVID-19. Shenendehowa Central School District announced on Sunday that it too plans administering tests with a goal of screening 20 percent of its population. A total of 3,800 test kits are to arrive at the district on Wednesday, Jan. 6.

In a note to parents, Shenendehowa Superintendent  Oliver Robinson  said regional districts are "united in our belief that schools are the best place for children to be during the day.

"We will remain focused on keeping our schools open, keeping our students and staff safe, and impressing upon parents and others to practice the same safety protocols out of school as they do when in school," he told the school community in an email.

(c)2021 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.